Dr. Corson is Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He is also a Professor in the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a member of the IU Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, and Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases.

Originally Australian, he completed BSc, MSc and PhD degrees at the University of Toronto, Canada, where his dissertation work with advisor Dr. Brenda L. Gallie included the discovery of KIF14 as an oncogene in retinoblastoma and other cancers. Subsequently, he moved into chemical biology research as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Jean-François St-Denis Fellow in Cancer Research at Yale University.

Working with Dr. Craig M. Crews, he explored the mechanism of the potent natural product triptolide, developed a novel approach to target HIV, and worked on techniques for targeted protein degradation. Since starting his own laboratory in 2010, he has brought chemical biology approaches to bear on problems in ophthalmology, pursuing KIF14 as a therapeutic target in retinoblastoma and beyond and undertaking mechanistic and therapeutic studies of antiangiogenic natural products.

He has identified two novel protein targets for blocking neovascularization in eye diseases like neovascular age-related macular degeneration, and has discovered novel lead therapeutic compounds covered by multiple patent applications. He has authored over 80 publications. Dr. Corson’s lab is funded by the Retina Research Foundation and NIH/NEI R01 grants, and has been supported by grants from the International Retinal Research Foundation, the Carl Marshall and Mildred Almen Reeves Foundation, the Showalter Research Trust, the BrightFocus Foundation, and St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

Other previous honors include the Merrill Grayson Senior Chair in Ophthalmology, the Alcon Research Institute Young Investigator Award, a KL2 career development award from NIH/NCATS, and the Watanabe Translational Scholar Award from the Indiana CTSI.